iPhone can phone home and kill apps? — Apple has apparently included a blacklisting mechanism in iPhone OS 2.x via which the device can phone home, check for unauthorized applications, and disable them. The OS includes a URL that points to a page containing a list of unauthorized applications, specifically:

Most iPhone Apps Are Failing To Leverage The Network Effect — I'm seeing a trend as I continue to download and test many of the 1,500+ and growing iPhone applications currently available on iTunes: Few of them are really taking advantage of the network effect to build any kind of competitive barrier to entry.

SlingPlayer 2.0 released today — Slingbox from SlingMedia is one of my favorite things to use. Being rather addicted to watching the Food Network and TLC's What Not to Wear it's great to just grab my laptop and check out what's on wherever I am. My favorite time to use Slingbox?

Watch the Olympics Online — The 2008 Beijing Olympics will happen while most Americans are sleeping. While NBC, the games' official media outlet in the United States, will be providing thousands of hours of content on the web, the only way to truly ensure you won't miss too many record-breaking moments …

New enhancements on the Google content network — Today we're announcing some key enhancements on the Google content network (partner sites for which we provide advertising) that will offer a better experience for users and better value for advertisers and publishers.

When selling up becomes selling out — What's the difference between selling up and selling out? In theory, the difference between the two is simple. Imagine a graph that pits the amount of money you get against the fulfilled potential of your idea: selling up is when you make a deal …

At Black Hat, Kaminsky details DNS flaw — Security researcher Dan Kaminsky has offered more details about a fundamental flaw in the Domain Name System and the extent of the vulnerability. — In a presentation at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday …

The myth of the creative class — As I near the end of writing my book, one lesson that has struck me is about the will of most people to create, and the new possibilities the Google age brings us. — One survey I quote says that 81 percent of us say we have a book in us.

Google Apps Hit by Prolonged Gmail Access Problem — A technical problem hit an undetermined number of Gmail users, including paying subscribers to the Google Apps hosted software suite, locking them out of their accounts for about 15 hours on Wednesday and early Thursday.

Some Mashups Harnessing The Power Of Yahoo's BOSS — Yahoo's Search Blog has posted a list of some of the most promising new web apps being built using its BOSS search platform. BOSS is a radically open API that launched last month that allows developers to utilize much of Yahoo's core search data without …

The Top Five Reasons Not to Upgrade to the New iPhone 3G — I've had my new 3G iPhone for about a month now and I thought I'd take a few minutes to write some of my thoughts and reflections on the experience for people who might be considering upgrading to the new 3G iPhone. First a little background though.

Two weeks until iPhone 3G Launch v2.0 — The new iPhone 3G is already available in 22 countries, but the device is about to launch in 21 more in just a couple of weeks. We have been trying to keep the noise down by not posting about every single country on earth that will be getting …

Apple poised for special event this September — Although it has not yet been announced, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes it's only a matter of time before Apple reveals plans to hold a special event next month to usher in a new array of iPods and Mac notebooks.

ASUS Eee PC “Ultimate” S101 revealed, and it's brown — We've already seen the S101 Ultimate Eee PC at the top of ASUS' Eee PC pyramid of implosion. ASUS' prez, Jerry Shen, told us earlier to expect the Atom-based netbooks to ship with a 32GB SSD, 10.2-inch, 16:9 aspect LED backlit display and battery life of about 4-5 hours.

The Web Developer and His Wife (A Fairy Tale) — There was once a mom and pop kind of web shop selling auction products, making money through the affiliate commissions. She (the wife) would do the design and customer contacts, and he (the husband) would do the programming of the site.

Mozilla's “Snowl” hunts Twitter, RSS, and (soon) e-mail — The web is an increasingly chatty place. Between following comment threads, checking in with friends on Twitter, reading a few blogs with RSS feeds, and conquering a mountain of e-mail, we have plenty of conversations to keep track of.